Israel entered the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 with the song "Shiru" by

Lehakat Shiru Lehakat Shiru (Hebrew: להקת שירו, lit. "Shiru Group") was the Israeli band that represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 held in Millstreet, Ireland. They performed the song "Shiru Israel entered the Eurovision Song Con ...

after they won the Israeli national final,

Kdam Eurovision The Kdam Eurovision (Hebrew: קדם אירוויזיון, transliteration "Kdam-Erovizyon", translation "Pre-Eurovision") in short known as the Kdam (Hebrew: קדם, lit. "Pre") was the Israeli national preselection of the Eurovision Song Contest. ...

Before Eurovision

Kdam Eurovision 1993

This Israeli broadcaster, IBA, held a national final to select the Israeli entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993, held in

Millstreet Millstreet () is a town in north County Cork, Ireland, with a population of 1,555 (as of 2016). Millstreet is within the civil parish of Drishane, and within a Poor Law Union also called Millstreet. The Millstreet Union encompasses the civil ...

, Ireland. The contest was held at the IBA TV Studios in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, hosted by co-Israeli representative Nathan Dattner. 12 songs competed, with the winner being decided through the votes of 7 regional juries. The winner was

with the song "Shiru", composed by Shaike Paikov and

Yoram Tahar-Lev Yoram Taharlev ( he, יורם טהרלב; 24 January 1938 – 6 January 2022) was an Israeli poet, lyricist, and author. He wrote lyrics for hundreds of songs recorded by prominent composers and performers. Biography Yoram Taharlev was born on ...

Song

"Shiru" ( he, label=

Hebrew script The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish ...

, שירו; "Sing") was performed in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

by The Shiru Group on the night of the contest, one of two bilingual songs, along with the Croatian entry. The song is about the power of song itself. The protagonist recalls how they were "given their songs" by the people they grew up with. They say song is "all we have" and they sing to "break walls" and "open hearts". The bridge of the song is performed in English, marking the second occasion, after its 1992 entry, on which the Israeli contest entry had featured any language apart from Hebrew.

At Eurovision

Lehakat Shiru performed 24th on the night of the final, preceding

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. On stage, the members dressed in traditional Israeli dress, wearing red ribbons in solidarity with people living with

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

. Bracha, Haim, Nadler and Proiter were in the center of the stage, while Sharon was on piano and Zamir was backing singer. At the end of the song, they all joined in a row at the front of the stage. They received 4 points, placing 24th in a field of 25, Israel's worst ever finish in the grand final, and therefore were relegated from participating in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1994 The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song "In Your Eyes" by Niamh Kavanagh. It was the first time that any country ...

Voting

References

External links

Israeli National Final 1993
{{Eurovision Song Contest 1993

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...